Serving NC State Alumni, Family and Friends in Hampton Roads Virginia and Northeastern North Carolina

Join Us for two great events! First to consider are great game-watching gatherings. And second is that the NC State Women's Basketball Team will be playing Old Dominion in November. Details are below ...

1.

Join us at the Blue Moon Taphouse in Waterside for game watching. Our next event is planned for October 14 when the Pack takes on Pitt. The Blue Moon Taphouse is located at 333 Waterside Drive, Norfolk, VA 23510 and their number is 757-426-7433. All attendees for our game watches receive 20% off food orders and happy hour prices on appetizers/drinks during our game. We will also have some great door prizes and raffle items. Stay up to date at our Facebook page.

2.

Join us on November 20, 2017 when the NC State Women's Basketball Team plays Old Dominion University. We have arranged to get Club Room Seats for the game and will be sharing space with the Norfolk Sports Club. It will be a great evening to share with NC State Alumni and make new friends from the Norfolk Sports Club membership. Cost will be $15.00 per person and the deadline for tickets is November 13th. Contact either Wayne Ford (5313 West Overholt Drive, VIrginia Beach, VA 23462) or Jerry Hefner (108 Kittywake Drive, Newport News, VA 23602, jhefner3@cox.net, 757-874-4640)

Chancellor Randy Woodson; Benny Suggs, Alumni Association Executive Director, and Athletic Director Debbie Yow have spoken at our meetings! Hope to see you at the next meeting ...

Chancellor Randy Woodson, North Carolina State University's new chancellor, spoke to the NC State Club of Hampton Roads at our Fall dinner meeting on Thursday evening, October 21, 2010, at the Breezy Point Officer's Club at Naval Air Station Norfolk.

Chancellor Woodson is NC State's 14th chancellor. He previously was the Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost at Purdue University. Chancellor Woodson brings leadership and a new energy to the NC State community that is showing signs of becoming highly contagious. His strong desire to take NC State University to the next level in both academics and athletics is a goal that all of us in the NC State family strongly support.

Chancellor Woodson believes that NC State alumni and friends are critical in achieving his goals. He believes that we are great resources for the University in terms of helping to tell the NC State story, to argue for and promote the University, to improve its resource base, and to help recruit outstanding students. Two of Chancellor Woodson's first priorities are to get out and meet those of us that make up the Wolfpack family (i.e., alumni, their families and friends, and supporters of the University) and to discuss with the us his plans and goals for NC State University. This was a unique opportunity for those of us who love and support NC State to spend an evening getting to know him as he gets to know each of us and our Hampton Roads Wolfpack community. It was also an opportunity for us to share our ideas, hopes, and dreams for NC State with Chancellor Woodson.

Columbus County native Benny Suggs '69 has made a career out of pursuing his passions. After he graduated from NC State, his love for and fascination with planes led him to the Navy, where he spent 30 years, retiring in 2000 as a rear admiral. After that, he pursued his lifelong devotion to motorcycles at Milwaukee, Wis.-based Harley-Davidson, where he worked in management for the past decade. Now he's left his job as general manager of the Harley Owners Group and Rider Services, which has 1.2 million members worldwide, to devote his energies to another passion: NC State.
After four decades away from North Carolina, Suggs joined the NC State Alumni Association as its executive director in mid-June. Some of his skills, like how to land a plane on an aircraft carrier, will probably be underused. But Suggs has learned more than a few things along the way that will come in handy as he aims to fulfill the Alumni Association's core mission: engaging alumni and friends through programs and services that foster pride and enhance a lifelong connection to NC State.

When it comes to energy, Debbie Yow runs on 220 volts of full-powered current. Named NC State's director of athletics on June 25, 2010, by Chancellor Randy Woodson, Yow laid out a comprehensive and energized vision for the future of the department, which she calls "Wolfpack Unlimited." Yow's expectations are clear and concise:

~ Every sport with a full complement of scholarships should be among the nation's top 25, working towards the top 10 and competing for conference and national championships.
~ Every student-athlete should be given the opportunity and resources to be as successful in the classroom as on the field of competition.
~ Every alumnus and supporter should be treated as a valued customer, with dedicated service resources from athletics department personnel.

"I'm not naive," said the veteran administrator, who held similar positions for four years at Saint Louis and 16 years at Maryland. "I know what it takes, and we will do that." In her first year on the job, Yow has made significant changes to the structure and branding of the athletics department. She's hired three new head coaches: men's basketball coach Mark Gottfried, men's soccer coach Kelly Findley and men's and women's swimming coach Braden Holloway, a former NC State swimmer. She brought in Bob Alejo to serve as the director of the strength and conditioning programs for all student-athletes. Senior administration has been geared to oversee the implementation of her vision for the Wolfpack's future success. She has also helped change the face of NC State athletics with overall improvements and upgrades to administrative and competition facilities on campus. She has embraced the school's longstanding traditions, returning a live mascot to the sidelines for football games and rebranding the school's identity by putting "State" on the front of most uniforms. Yow has made it clear to her coaches and staff that they will be given the resources they need to be competitive at the highest level of college athletics. She has also made clear her expectations for all 23 varsity programs at the school. "We can become what we believe we can become, if we rally the Wolfpack family to lock arms as a collective force and move forward in a united way," Yow said the day she was hired. "In fact, that's the only way we can reach these challenging goals for NC State. "We will work hard. We will work smartly. I will listen and learn about the challenges we face in order to make wise choices. But the only limitations we have are those we place on ourselves."